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Detroit City FC website back up after Cyber Monday crash by ticket-seeking fans

The Detroit City Football Club LLC was a victim of its own popularity on Cyber Monday.

The semi-pro soccer team made its 2014 season tickets available for sale today, and the club’s website, DetroitCityFC.com, crashed.

The team tweeted this message this morning: “Dealing with server issues now, thanks to all for your patience. IF YOU LIKE YOUR FOOTBALL CLUB YOU CAN KEEP YOUR FOOTBALL CLUB.”

The latter half of the message is a humorous reference to President Obama’s health insurance reform statement that’s been a media and political topic amid major problem with the recent HealthCare.gov rollout.

The Detroit City site was working again this afternoon.

“Thanks to all our eager supporters that already trampled through our website and got their tickets and swag!” the team tweeted via @DetroitCityFC.

Detroit City is selling its eight-game season tickets for $40, an increase of $5 over last season. The season tickets were $30 for the inaugural 2011 season.

Other season ticket packages are available that include merchandise for additional cost.

Individual game tickets in 2014 will be $8 when ordered online and $10 at the gate. They were $5 last season.

Emails were sent to the team’s owners seeking sales figures for today.

Cyber Monday is the Monday after Thanksgiving and is a marketing effort by retailers to boost online sales via discounts and deals online.

The soccer team had 36 retail items for sale on its website today, ranging in price from an $80 men’s team livery jacket to $5 logo stickers.

Detroit City FC, part of the National Premier Soccer League, finished its second season 12-0 and ranked No. 1 in the league before losing in the playoffs to the Erie Admirals.

It plays home games at Cass Technical High School in Detroit and averaged 1,200 to 1,300 fans per game this past season.

Ticket sales account for about 40 percent of the team’s $100,000-plus operating budget, the club has said, while corporate sponsorship makes up 15 percent to 20 percent, and merchandise sales are the remainder.

The team, nicknamed “Le Rouge,” plays in the NPSL’s Midwest Division. The NPSL is a fourth-tier amateur league within the Chicago-based United States Soccer Federation's organizational pyramid, which is topped by Major League Soccer and its 19 professional teams.

The federation is the U.S. soccer system's governing body, for both amateur and pro soccer.